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Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1915.
Reprinted November, 1915.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I THE MATERIAL

II FANCY SEED OF WONDER

III DEATH OF A MERE FACT

IV FACT EDGED WITH FANCY

V THE BIRTH OF WONDER

VI THE GROWTH OF WONDER

VII IMAGINATION WAKES

VIII WHERE WONDER HIDES

IX A PRIEST OF WONDER

X FACT AND WONDER CLASH

XI JUDY'S PARTICULAR ADVENTURE

XII TIM'S PARTICULAR ADVENTURE

XIII TIME HESITATES

XIV MARIA STIRS

XV "A DAY WILL COME"

XVI TIME HALTS

XVII A DAY HAS COME

XVIII TIME GOES ON AGAIN

XIX AS USUAL

XX BUT DIFFERENTLY!

CHAPTER I

THE MATERIAL

Judy, Tim, and Maria were just little children. It was impossible to
say exactly what their ages were, except that they were just the usual
age, that Judy was the eldest, Maria the youngest, and that Tim,
accordingly, came in between the two.

Their father did his best for them; so did their mother; so did Aunt
Emily, the latter's sister. It is impossible to say very much about
these three either, except that they were just Father, Mother, and
Aunt Emily. They were the Authorities in Chief, and they knew
respectively everything there was to be known about such remote and
difficult subjects as London and Money; Food, Health and Clothing;
Conduct, Behaviour and Regulations, both general and particular. Into
these three departments of activity the children, without realising
that they did so, classed them neatly. Aunt Emily, besides the special
duties assigned to her, was a living embodiment of No. While Father
allowed and permitted, while Mother wobbled and hesitated, Aunt Emily
shook her head with decision, and said distinctly No. She was too full
of warnings, advice, and admonitions to get about much. She wore gold
glasses, and had an elastic, pointed nose. From the children's point
of view she must be classed as invalid. Somewhere, deep down inside
them, they felt pity.

The trio loved them according to their just deserts; they grasped that
the Authorities did their best for them. This "best," moreover, was
done in different ways. Father did it with love and tenderness, that
is, he spoilt them; Mother with tenderness and love, that is, she felt
them part of herself and did not like to hurt herself; Aunt Emily with
affectionate and worthy desire to see them improve, that is, she
trained them. Therefore they adored their father, loved their mother,
and thought highly from a distance preferably of their aunt.

This was the outward and visible household that an ordinary person,
say, a visitor who came to lunch on Sunday after church, would have
noticed. It was the upper layer; but there was an under layer too.
There was Thompson, the old pompous family butler; they trusted him
because he was silent and rarely smiled, winked at their mischief,
pretended not to see them when he caught them in his pantry, and never
once betrayed them. There was Mrs. Horton, the fat and hot tempered
family cook; they regarded her with excitement including dread,
because she left juicy cakes (still wet) upon the dresser, yet denied
them the entry into her kitchen. Her first name being Bridget, there
was evidently an Irish strain in her, but there was probably a dash of
French as well, for she was an excellent cook and recipe was her
master word she pronounced it "recipee." There was Jackman, the
nurse, a mixture of Mother and Aunt Emily; and there was Weeden, the
Head Gardener, an evasive and mysterious personality, who knew so much
about flowers and vegetables and weather that he was half animal, half
bird, and scarcely a human being at all vaguely magnificent in a
sombre way. His power in his own department was unquestioned. He said
little, but it "meant an awful lot" most of which, perhaps, was not
intended.

These four constituted the under layer of the household, concealed
from visitors, and living their own lives apart behind the scenes... Continue reading book >>